KSA signs deal for archaeological surveys on Farasan Island

Google map showing Farasan Islands in Jazan region.

RIYADH: The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) has signed an agreement with a team of French scientists to extend an archaeological survey at two sites on Farasan Island in Jazan region.
The supervisor of the Antiquities and Museums at SCTH, Husain Abu Al-Hasan, and Soline Marion de Bros, from First Paris University and head of the French team on the Saudi-French project assigned to carry out the archaeological surveys, signed for their respective parties at SCTH headquarters on Tuesday.
Al-Hasan said the deal aims to exchange experiences between the two parties and benefit from different scientific approaches in archaeological surveys.
He said the deal is a part of agreements worked out by the SCTH with key universities, and specialized centers and institutes at the global level in the area of antiquities and museums.
The agreement contained a number of elements including using the latest technologies in exploring archaeological sites, renovation of antiquities, and scientific publication of findings on the basis of globally known approaches, he said.
The SCTH has so far signed more than 34 agreements with a number of universities and specialized institutes inside and outside the Kingdom… he said.
de Bros said the deal includes conducting studies at all archaeological sites on Fursan Island from the pre-Islamic era to the early Islamic period.
She stressed that the Kingdom’s land had represented a point of contact between world civilizations and cultures, and hosted a civilization that had an enormous impact on human history.